DEP issues air permit for proposed Weymouth compressor station

Jessica Trufant The Patriot Ledger @JTrufant_Ledger

Friday

Jan 11, 2019 at 5:14 PMJan 11, 2019 at 5:14 PM

State regulators on Friday issued an air quality permit for the proposed 7,700-horsepower natural gas compressor station on the banks of the Fore River, despite the urging of local mayors and state legislators to deny the permit.

Spectra Energy-Enbridge received initial approval for the project from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in January 2017, but it still needs several state permits, including for air quality. The state agreed to issue its air permit decision by Friday, Jan. 11, and any appeal decisions and final permits by June 28.

The state Department of Environmental Protection on Friday issued the air quality permit, just a week after the Metropolitan Area Planning Council released a health impact assessment on how the compressor station that Algonquin, a subsidiary of Spectra Energy-Enbridge, wants to build would affect noise, air quality, health and land use.

Gov. Charlie Baker ordered the study in July 2017 amid strong local opposition to the project from officials and residents in Weymouth, Quincy, Braintree and Hingham.

Mayor Robert Hedlund on Friday said he wasn’t shocked by the decision, though he had been hopeful that Baker would have stood with the community on the issue.

"You have three mayors who he’s worked well with, four communities weighing in, 14 legislators and people he was elected to serve, but if you look at how this has gone with state regulators working with the gas industry in the past, it doesn’t surprise me," Hedlund said.

The health impact assessment found that the proposed station would produce air toxins such as benzene and formaldehyde, noting there is "an extensive body of literature linking air pollution to mortality and hospitalizations due to respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological diseases.

Residents of Braintree, Quincy and Weymouth already experience higher rates of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cardiovascular conditions compared to the state average, according to the planning council.

Hedlund sent a letter to Baker earlier in the week asking him to reject the air quality permit because the compressor station would add toxins to an already-overburdened, industrialized area. Braintree Mayor Joseph Sullivan, Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch and 14 legislators from the South Shore also sent letters to Baker.

Compressor stations are placed along pipelines to maintain pressure and keep the gas flowing. Residents and officials from Weymouth, Braintree, Quincy and Hingham say the facility would vent toxic gases that could sicken neighbors, and that it could explode.

In his letter to Baker, Hedlund said the town has spent almost $750,000 in its fight against the compressor station project since he took office in January of 2016.

The town has filed legal challenges in state court and Federal court, trial courts and appeals courts, and administrative agencies, including the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, and state Department of Environmental Protection.

Hedlund on Friday said he expects the town to sue the state to challenge the air permit. He said town officials and DEP Commissioner Martin Suuberg have different opinions on the state’s role in administering the Clean Air Act.